Before 2014 ends

 I've been trés horrible updating this space ever since we came back from Taipei as work was seriously just avalanched on me and only took a slow turn this week when everyone went on Christmas break. 

Thought it'd be great to reflect and recap upon my year since I have some time now - just using photos in my phone haha! Ok let's see...

New Year's brunch with pals - a tradition it has become. 

Nettie's thousandth and one durian cake for her birthday. She has since sworn off durian for a year.

Having expensive teppanyaki with the teppanyaki queen herself, I don't think I've ate that much teppanyaki in my life ever since she discovered Teppanyaki Express at Nex.

At my cousin's wedding. I think I hung out more with my siblings this year as well. Still can't believe Daniel is turning 20 next year!

Impromptu fireworks one night at Fullerton Bay when we were bringing colleagues out for a drink. I said I had arranged it for them hahaha.

Yet another one of us moving overseas, this time Gracie to Australia. This was at her farewell dinner. 

Nettie at the Fountain of Wealth making a wish for during Chinese New Year. Looking back I'd say it's been a pretty good year for us financially haha! 

Meeting up with old friends again who you know, may disappear once in a while but will always be there. 

Our big regional event organized by my buddy and me here. It was also a sad week as her dad passed from ALS. 

Moved to our beautiful new office at MBFC. Kudos to my wonderful Nettie successfully owning the biggest project of the year! A great view and environment really does help work productivity and creativity!

First work trip of the year to Amsterdam. My team and I having a delicious dinner in an old church.

Of course nothing beats coming home to my dear Nettie. A rare day we ventured out to the beach. 

Celebrating my birthday with a Minnie Mouse theme! Everything was covered in red and white polka dots!

How can I forget this epic team photo where we dressed up as Spice Girls (and a weird gym trainer) hahaha! 

Birthday trip to Bangkok where the Dalai Lama graced me with a wefie! 

Sis was hospitalized due to an infected gall bladder. Plus parents were in HK so I had to step up and become mum for the week. Unforgettable experience that bonded the siblings. 

Crazy hair in Taipei! 

Epic (hangover) night at Luxy where we were VIPs for awhile. I even got recognized the next day on the streets of Ximending. Okayyyy....

Onward to Seoul, a relaxing week of photography, cafés, BBQ and streets.

We even became Koreans for 10 minutes. This is Emperor Nettie and her 3 concubines lol~ 

Groupfie with my granny at my cousin's wedding dinner. Check out the photo bombers. 

Pinkdot 2014 - a sea of pink love!

My brother POP-ed! 

Another old friend who appeared. 

Really I think the start of the crazy work period. Thankful for inspiring spots in the office to tide me through.

National Day with the red bunch! We very patriotic ok.

Qingdao...first and last....trip with her mum lol. 

Summer party! The lone pirate battling the stormy seas around the merry sailors.

At the most fun and joyous wedding I've ever been to. Screw traditions we say! 

One of the many selfies Nettie sends to me when I'm on work trip. The ones I send back are scary hahahah cannot post! 

Favorite team photo ever!! 

The week when Luis came over and we brought him for roadside bahchormee and bahkutteh. He absolutely loved it. 

12 days in Tokyo! The calm before the storm I think.

Luckily we had so much coffee it kept me running for the whole period in Taipei after, where we braved the elements to get awesome landscape photography.

Yeah that's us the whole of Taipei, wet chickens. Really thankful she was there, literally sheltering me while I worked, keeping us on schedule and motivating us to keep going through the grey weather. Boohoo.

Wouldn't have climbed up the mountain to get this shot if it weren't for her encouragement.

Weekends with this one. The one who will buy coffee for the cup. Go figure. 

Decorating the office with colleagues. Though we didn't win the decor-off and my clothes got stuck with the stupid red felt from the $10 outfit but it was an experience we will never forget! 

And finally last week, for some reason one of my fav family photos this year or ever. Food prepared by my daddy and full acceptance of my purple hair. What more can I ask for? Haha!

Oh yes. A skateboard. Ask and it shall be given - not my scraped knee didn't ask for that but I guess it comes with the board. 

Happy holidays and a magical 2015 ahead everyone!! 

東京ロマンス . Tokyo Romance

Our decision to stay 12 days in Tokyo was met with pretty much the same reaction as our decision to stay 10 days in Taipei. Everyone was like, "What...won't you be bored? What's there to do? You can finish Tokyo in 3 days!"

I personally think you can't really say you know a place just by visiting the places listed in Lonely Planet or TripAdvisor. Part of the process of getting to know a place is really just sitting still while the world moves by, and absorbing every movement every sight every sound, smell and texture; understanding why the people in that city do the things they do; not making judgment on them using the standards from which you originate from; not experiencing the city through a Selfie stick. You definitely cannot do that in 3 days.

We stayed at a very nice Airbnb apartment at the end of Harajuku. The owner, Makiko, was super nice and prepared so many things for us - including free Wifi egg, bicycles and a restaurant list. Although we did not meet in real life, but she definitely played a big part in making this trip such a nice one.  We really did very normal things like taking out the trash, cooking meals, doing laundry - things you wouldn't typically do on a vacation. But you see, we really wanted to experience living in the heart of Tokyo. And live we did.

We did not plan anything on the itinerary, save for a few meals with friends...oh yes and DisneySea! Of course I had a few places I wanted to visit in mind, but it was like one place a day? And the rest of the time we just enjoyed the process of getting there, wandering into small alleys, stopping to eat at random cafes and restaurants, having fun getting squished on the trains, getting lost in translation, huddling close while it rained, skipping together when the sun came out. Simply being.

This year, we left our hearts in Tokyo.